Modern day travel can be somewhat hectic nowadays, especially air travel. More people are travelling by air now than ever before. Long layovers, gate changes, and plane transfers can make travelers exhausted. With extra charges for checked bags, people are trying to carry on as much as possible. When carrying on luggage, the cost and wait for checked baggage to be unloaded is avoided. This may sound like a good idea, but it can lead to problems when navigating through the busy airport. More luggage to carry means more effort used while traveling through the terminal, which can be very draining to the body.
With traditional rolling luggage, one hand must be used to pull the bag. This restricts the amount of other luggage and items that could be carried with this hand. Besides impeding one hand, pulling rolling luggage can be physically tiring on the body. More often than not, the handle on the rolling luggage is in an awkward place and requiring a constant pull by hand. There are many lines at the airport so stop-and-go movement is very common, in addition to the long walks between terminals. This takes a toll on one's body because each time the person is moving; they have to be pulling the weight of the rolling luggage using the arm, neck and shoulder muscles of the right or left side of the body. This can lead to short term arm, shoulder and neck muscle soreness while travelling and long term back and neck problems as the frequent traveler is not walking with a straight posture due to pulling weight on one side more often than the other.
A solution to this problem is to use luggage shoulder straps. These straps allow for a hands-free method of pulling the bag using the torso instead of the hand as the strap is worn around the opposite shoulder and chest. But prior versions of luggage shoulder straps to pull carry-on luggage hands free require a large amount of effort to use. For example, both hands are needed to attach and detach the strap or harness each time that it is worn or taken off. When not in use, these bulky straps take up space and present a hazard of getting tangled or snagged from other bags in close proximity.
The present invention provides a retractable strap that reduces the fatigue associated with pulling wheeled luggage and provides a solution to the common problems associated with luggage shoulder straps. The present invention incorporates a self-retracting mechanism to return the strap to a compact configuration when not in use. This eliminates the problem of having to use both hands to attach the strap or to untangle it. The hands-free method reduces the need to hold the rolling luggage handle while moving. The strap is also physically connected to the luggage, reducing the risk of forgotten or stolen property. Lastly, the present invention provides a compact and quick method of storing the strap saving time, effort, and space.